OPINION: A BLACK AND WHITE MISTAKE, A BIG ONE
MANILA, NOVEMBER 29, 2010 (STAR) AS A MATTER OF FACT By Sara Soliven De Guzman - Shame, shame, shame! Palace officials have diminished the "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" slogan disaster as a mere 'boo-boo.' What's worse is that many have hailed the voluntary resignation of the obviously less-than-competent Undersecretary of the Department of Tourism, Vicente Romano (who masterminded the 'creation') as a conscientious move that every public officer must follow.
In Japan, an incident like this would cause a culprit of this magnitude to commit hara-kiri — that is the honorable way. In our country, our erring public officials simply say sorry and they get away with virtual murder.
Imagine, the President has even accepted Romano's resignation "with regrets." How in the world can P-Noy show sympathy to a man who squandered more than P4 million of the DOT's funds on a foolish and incompetent venture? How can a president of any country for that matter ever regret the resignation of an inept official? Sanamagan!
If the President has reviewed all the facts about this public embarrassment caused by the DOT, I believe it will be appropriate for him to retract his statement of showing his regrets in accepting Romano's resignation.
By the way, Romano's mistake is now being classified by the Palace as a 'boo-boo'. In his position as the Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda should have better understanding of idiomatic expressions and realize that a 'boo-boo' is applied to a 'minor injury, such as a scratch'. How can a P4 million blunder be called minor or a scratch? It should be classified as a "major, major" case. We should also consider the vast negative impact the slogan has generated throughout the world and the shame it has brought on our country and our people. This is not a 'boo-boo' that's for sure – many of countrymen consider it to be – a big deal.
Consider the fact that the slogan and its graphic representation were plagiarized, regardless of what Romano and the foreign public relations firm who designed it may insist on. Indisputably, the graphic design, at the very least, is a plagiarism of Poland's own tourism logo. You can put one on top of the other and it will be quite a perfect match. The Poles, along with many other people worldwide must be laughing their hearts out at our utter stupidity, idiocy and lack of common sense.
After analyzing all these realities and humiliation, why can't the DOT require the foreign PR firm to payback, if not sue the sanamagans for ruining the name of the country. I am not a lawyer but I feel that the DOT has a very strong case against this company and must take legal action. If it does not, it will make the already suspected possibility of some chicanery all the more believable.
But the Palace is not about to do anything drastic to put Romano to shame. After all, he was a leader of that lame Black and White movement, which supported P-Noy during the campaign. Romano had to be rewarded but the question is why put him in an important position in which he had absolutely no knowledge of? The problem with rewarding political support in this country is that no consideration of the capabilities of the rewarded is ever done. Now, look at what happens as a result!
Not surprisingly, the incompetence of Romano is contrasted by a tourism event. This was the Philippine National Surfing Convention 2010, conceived by a group of young surfers who faithfully believe that the sport of surfing is a product that should be at least niche marketed by the DOT. These young directors of the Academy of Surfing Instructors Philippines, Inc. (ASIP), the local chapter of the Academy of Surfing Instructors (ASI), the international agency that certifies and accredits surfing instructors and surfing schools worldwide, feel in their minds and hearts that the Philippines could be a surfing 'mecca' for the millions of active surfers in the world.
There is so much potential in surfing tourism in the Philippines. It is actually a growing industry in the country. Pagudpud, Cabugao, La Union, Zambales, Baler, Real, Daet, Catanduanes, Borrongan, Calicoan, Siargao and Lanuza are surfing hotspots in the country.
According to the information I gathered, surfing is now a multi-billion dollar global industry; there are currently over 10,000,000 surfers from 50 countries on six continents in the world who regularly surf; one third of these (about 3,500,000) are cash-rich, time-poor and hence potential tour clients for the country; surfing tourism is growing at a remarkable annual rate of 12-16% and currently it is worth well over US$10 billion.
The Academy of Surfing Instructors of the Philippines had an admirable plan to promote surfing in the country. Their proposal should have been read by Romano but a reliable source told me that a certain Elizabeth Nelle, director of the DOT's Office of Product Research and Development paid closer attention to the group. Nelle worked with the ASIP group and decided that the plan should be presented to DOT Secretary Lim, who immediately was impressed with the project and directed Nelle to make it go through the 'mill' – a system DOT employs in assessing projects.
The bureaucratic red tape required that even with Lim's initial display of partiality to the plan, it would have to be reviewed by, who else but Romano! Mind you, he also had something to do with the DOT's Project Evaluation Committee. The plan was presented to Romano but it took him some time to put the required attention to the project. He finally allowed a sum less than half of what was actually needed for the convention. But nevertheless, the ASIP group went to work and got funding from sponsors to make the event possible.
Finally, last Saturday, the Philippine National Surfing Convention 2010 took center stage to officially launch and promoted surfing tourism in the country. I hope those DOT bigwigs continue to support surfing in the Philippines.
It must be noted upon ending that there are staffers and executives in the DOT who are not imbeciles but well meaning, earnest workers, many with two decades of experience in the department that makes them extremely well qualified to do a good job. But these poor souls are always intercepted, if not intruded upon, in their work by the idiotic political appointees who know nothing about tourism.
I think it's about time P-Noy goes beyond friends and close associates. He must look for good, dependable and seasoned men and women established and accomplished and whose expertise is what the country desperately needs for development and progress.
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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